many apologies

Dear Readers, I must apologize for my leave of absence. The school year has been rather crazy, and it's all I can do to keep myself sane, much less upright. To catch y'all up on what I've been up to, may I offer a summary, from bad to good?

• Depressing and depraved "classic" literature
• an athiestical Astronomy class
• a zealotical first-aid professor
• a story plot come and gone, but a new one rising from its ashes, a-la-phoenix
• a sword blade in progress
• a full shirt of chainmaille nearing completion (as it has been for the past 9 months, because I'm so stubborn about readjusting bits and lengthening things)
• a full suit of plate armor in progress (read, the Mk. I suit is in progress, but the Mk. II overplating is still in concept)
• a theoretical helmet in progress
• TWO (read it, 2) showings of The Hobbit, both of which involved my maille
• aaaaaaaaaaaaand last but not least a half-decent Christmas/Christian necklace pendant, forged from mithril. Light as a feather, and hard as- *coughs uncontrollably* copper

Hopefully that will give you a taste of it all! To be very un-politically-correct, I wish y'all a very merry Christmas! And congrats on bashing Hollywood's doomsday predictions of the 21st! your grand-kids will be so proud.

College musings

Aye, many apologies, I have been rather busy with college, so I haven't had much time for posting.

Today... (dramatic pause) was rather chaotic. Upon stepping onto campus today, the entire open courtyard thingy (yes, I know, thingy is a very technical and specific term. hush.) was flooded with tables of the different campus clubs, as well as a team of Hispanic rappers blasting everyone's ear buds within a 3 mile radius. Needless to say, the Christian groups were few, compared to the overwhelmingly large tables for the muslim groups and the gay-straight alliance crews. Also, there was a distinctively noticable lack of any group of the crafty, metal-smithing sort. Who knows? Maybe I could start one up; for every 3rd 5-1 patch woven, a prayer being said or a bible verse being quoted. Biblical armor. Yeah. If you can't tell, my cold-enhanced (read, barely functioning) mind is in full power right now. Very random, and very insane.

It Has Come.

No, not my doom, or anything else negative. Just possibly the greatest boon to armor-crafters and/or other blacksmiths across the globe.

It is... drum roll please... a swage block!

For those of y'all who don't know what it is, look it up. For those too lazy to do so, basically it is a lump of solid steel with bowl shapes and spoon shapes engraved into it, and different angles and other shapes around the rim. This may seem entirely useless to non-smiths, scratching their heads over the curious ramblings of this viking smith over a 20 lb. block of metal with shapes in it, but to smiths, it is rather invaluable. Particularly those who craft armor and are desperately in need of dishing triangles of steel sheeting into a full Norse spangenhelm.

Anyhoo, on a slightly more serious matter, college begins again on Tuesday, and from thereon out it will be a struggle. Not that college itself is a struggle, no. It is satisfyingly challenging, aye, but with certain bad days ahead, and all, it is becoming a rather pressing thing to find other Christians on campus.

God bless y'all.

Random musings

There are some days when I outright curse my overly creative mind. Out of the blue, ideas come, and hold my attention hostage until I finally write it down. The same such has occured, regarding a rather curious story-line about post-Olaf vikings being warped into Baltimore Harbor, modern day, while a band of pagan, piratical vikings suddenly appear in Los Angeles, who are bent on capturing a holy artifact that the first band of vikings was carrying, meanwhile that band of norsemen has been taken in by a compassionate single mother and her children, resulting in humerous chaos. Yes, my mind is very random and chaotic. But it has some promise, once I finish off my current story-in-progress.

A Plethora of Cordial Greetings Unto Y'all

Who am I, you all may ask and wonder?

I am an anomaly among today's society. I am one who holds to the chivalric code and a strong grasp to my Creator in an age where such beliefs are rare to find. I am one who crafts words as well as metal into beautiful creations to behold, through pencil graphite and wrought iron, writing paper and a sturdy anvil, raw imagination and blazing fire. I am a red-headed gentleman who is 19 years young. I am a Christian who has seen much, fought much, and through His grace alone stood tall once more.

These words, and any images posted here, are the sole property of myself, Eli, unless otherwise stated. God bless, y'all.